Cohen is a giant among us. BrainCell has been an inspiration for hundreds of people. Everyone send him something.
--- Sztuka Fabryka <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > MAIL ART NETWORKING ART > > Recently, I have observed many signs that make me > feel as if Mail Art is > drawing to a close, and that there are many past > publications that could be > seen as 'compilations' of Mail Art. Quite a few > predecessors of Mail Art > have passed away, including Ray Johnson(USA), the > Father of Mail Art, > G.A.Cavellini (ITALY), Robin Crozier (ENGLAND), > Robert Rehfeldt (GERMANY), > G.Deisler (GERMANY), Carlo Pittore (USA), and > others. This is probably also > because exchange by mail in the age of computers is > considered primitive, > and after the end of the COLD WAR between the East > and the West, the > necessity of correspondence between those two > different worlds has been > lost. > On the other hand, I have been regularly receiving > mail art by mail and fax, > in response to my BRAIN CELL PROJECT dating from the > year 1985, which has > been numbered issue no.652, as of June 2006. Every > time I receive mail art, > I am pleased to see more and more new participants. > After making them a > collage of their drawings, designs, logos, seals, > stickers and the like, I > make it a rule to send the finished project back to > each participant. Mail > Art is far from finishing. I appreciate the role of > collaboration in Mail > Art. It is important to have new participants each > time, but it is more > important to be evoked by other mail artists' ideas > from within the large > and deep Network with a diverse range of expressions > and concept. I can make > mail artists' ideas more interesting by actively > availing myself of seals > and stamps and other materials sent from others and > through my own printed > matter. What is more, I can give other mail artists > the feeling that they > can utilise other's art and collaborate their ideas. > We have the Doppler effect in physics. The sound > coming nearer to us becomes > narrower between the sonic waves and sounds higher > and more urgent in our > ears. On the contrary, as waves travel away from us > they get relatively > wider and the sound appears lower. There are a > variety of physical sounds > around us: for example, the sound of cars coming and > going. This phenomena > is also true of art. Some art comes towards me, > while other art goes away. > People very often ask me how we can know good from > bad in art. It does not > matter whether this representational painting is > good in composition and > colour and technique, or whether that piece of > abstract art is good in > balance and rhythm. I don't think it important to > generally decide which > style of art is better than the others. That is to > say traditional ways of > thinking about art is fading away from me. > Often other artists only use limited new techniques > in spite of what is > called 'originality and individuality,' to the > constant efforts predecessors > had made for so long. A variety of works of modern > art with too much false > assertion of originality and individuality are also > travelling away from me. > When I was at art school, I used to draw or paint > representational, moved by > Cezanne's composition, and Matisse's brightness and > his own style of plane. > Later on I had some exchange with members of the > Gutai Group, so I learned > new concepts of art through contemporary art. > Consequently I have been > participating in Mail Art Networking. I claim that > this was a natural > changeover and has no inconsistency with my personal > concept of art. We need > no large studio or storage space for paintings. > Whoever wants to take part > in mail art does so freely. > We can deny the authority of the traditional art > world, because mail artists > directly exchange their own artworks. The > fascination for Mail Art, more > than twenty years ago, approached me with a high > sound. Even now the > collaborative concept of Mail Art is coming closer > to me with a much higher > sound. > We don't have any fixed "ism" in the infinite > expanse of the Mail Art > Network. Postcards, xeroxes, collages, drawings, > photos, CGs, CDs, and other > forms are sent in by mail, fax, e-mail etc. We are > overwhelmed by the > diversity of how mail art members think and express > themselves. We realise > that countless "isms" are mixed together in a state > of chaos that is > represented in Mail Art. Of course, we don't > copyright our works. Interested > in others' works, we add something to them or > combine them together, and > then send them back or forward them on to a third > party. We occasionally > find them changed into pieces with quite an > unexpected concept. > At a glance, the jungle looks as if it is made up of > gigantic trees, but the > fact is that the rain-forests in the Amazon of South > America consists of > numerous species that cohabit harmoniously: ferns > and mosses parasitic to > the gigantic trees, very tiny insects that hide > themselves under the fallen > leaves, insects camouflaging in dead leaves and > twigs against the enemies, > puny insects swarming together as a threat, birds > displaying their existence > with colorful feathers and a shrill cry and many > other mammals and birds. > We really wonder at how diverse these living things > are! We can lean from > the rain forest that there are a multitude of LIFE > FORMS. We are not chained > to any fixed "ism" as this frees us from constraint, > nor do we care for > copyright we prefer to revise and copy others' works > in a free and easy > style. In such a network there is the possibility of > our experiencing much > by communication of mail art. This is the very LIFE > FORM that we can > experience in a variety of ways. > Networking Art is art that enables us to be a > praying mantis in camouflage, > or butterflies flying on colourful wings. > Nowadays I have come to realise that we are all part > of a FRACTAL, and that > I can be a piece of that FRACTAL, and that I can > create art, in a way that > extends beyond myself as an individual, in > communication with infinite mail > artists' ideas. > In the same way that we appreciate the various kinds > of LIFE FORMS in the > amazon, we can experience a multitude of art forms > in the MAIL ART NETWORK. > It is only human beings who can experience plural > LIFE FORMS, by which we > can acquire a genuine sense of new creation. > > JUNE 2006 > RYOSUKE COHEN > Ryosuke Cohen c/o Brain Cell > 3-76-1-A-613 Yagumokitacho Moriguchi City Osaka 570 > Japan > TEL&FAX +81.6.6991.1507 > E-mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://www.h5.dion.ne.jp/~cohen/info/english.htm > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryosuke_Cohen > > > > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? 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